


Pedal

by KikiLazuli



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, i love soft stuff, other characters that i'll tag once they get introduced, this story is just really soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-12-19 10:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11896218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KikiLazuli/pseuds/KikiLazuli
Summary: Of all the places to fall in love, Peridot never expected the back of Lapis' bike to be one.





	1. Really Not An Asthmatic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been planning this for a long (long) while so finally, I'm posting the first chapter.

If there was one thing Peridot disliked, it was rain. If there was one thing she disliked more than that, it was being being without her umbrella. So, of course, that was her current circumstance. Luckily, it hadn’t started to rain yet. But, by the looks of the storm clouds rolling in, Peridot only had minutes before it began pouring down. And, she was still a mile away from home.

She had two choices: run as fast as her short legs could carry her, or walk as she normally would and get inevitably soaked. Neither option sounded suitable. However, she had a pretty weak immune system and didn't want to risk getting sick. So… running it was.

And, about thirty seconds after deciding to run home, Peridot regretted everything. 

There was a reason she almost failed P.E. They wanted her to run a mile every two weeks and she couldn't run if her life depended on it. She would always trip over her legs and fall – she still had a few scars on her knees from scraping them against the gravel so much. Plus, she would always end up wheezing and nearly coughing up a lung, something that prompted her coach to ask if she had asthma (the answer to which was no, she was just really out of shape).

Though, now, as she was doubled over, gasping for air, she started to rethink that asthma question. 

Peridot stood there, panting so loud, she didn't hear the sound of wheels rolling along the pavement coming towards her.

What she did hear was a curious voice ask, “Are you okay?”

A squeak came out of Peridot’s mouth as she jolted upward in surprise. Her eyes flew over to the owner of the voice and she blinked at the face looking back at her.

Oh boy.

“Lapis?” Peridot couldn't help but blush. There she was, severely short of breath, while the girl she  _ may  _ have spent the past few weeks with the smallest – yes,  _ smallest _ – crush on was right next to her, on her bike. The situation warranted a blush.

“Hey,” Lapis replied, then asked again, “You okay?”

Peridot gave a shaky, wheezy laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just trying to get home before it starts pouring,” she gestured to the sky. 

“Are you running home or running a marathon, because you look like you're about to die.” Peridot heard the blatant teasing in her voice and didn’t miss a beat.

“And, you look like you've _ already _ died.” She paused, then added, “On the inside, at least.”

Small – yes,  _ small _ – crush or not, Peridot never backed down from banter. Which was just as well, seeing as the two of them did it quite often. In fact, ever since the first day of school, mildly teasing each other seemed to be their unspoken bond. It began when Lapis had fallen asleep in the homeroom class they shared. When she woke up, Peridot joked that her snoring was cute. In response, Lapis joked that her “gremlin face” was cute. It wasn't love at first sight, but it was good enough.

Lapis’ infectious laughter interrupted Peridot’s thoughts and she couldn't help but grin. That was another reason she enjoyed their banter so much. Because somehow, she always ended up making Lapis laugh, snort and all.

Sadly, Peridot only had a short amount of time to appreciate Lapis’ laughter before she felt a raindrop fall right on her cheek and she grimaced.

“Ugh,” Peridot groaned, wiping the water off her face. She looked to Lapis. “Sorry, but I really gotta get home.”

“Hey, wait,” Lapis stopped her before she could even take a step forward. “I wasn't joking about you looking like you're about to die. You  _ sure _ you can run all the way home?”

Peridot rolled her eyes. “Sure, I can do it. Maybe. Probably not. Who cares, I'm not getting caught in this storm.”

Lapis bit down on her lip for a moment. Peridot made herself look away.

“Where do you live?” Lapis suddenly asked.

Peridot met her gaze again, curious as to why Lapis wanted to know. “Uh, you know the neighborhood with the obnoxiously big houses? I live in the apartments next to it.” 

Lapis began to chuckle and Peridot raised an eyebrow. “What's so funny?”

“Nothing, it's just…  _ I  _ live in the neighborhood with the obnoxiously big houses,” Lapis answered.

“Oh. Uh...”

“Anyway,” Lapis waved a hand and continued, “if you want, I could give you a ride.”

Peridot’s stomach did a small leap. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, why not?” Lapis shrugged. “It'll be faster than walking  _ and  _ this way, you won't end up hooked to a breathing machine or something from all that running.”

Peridot huffed. “You know, I’m really  _ not  _ an asthmatic.”

“Whatever you say,” Lapis grinned. “So, are you getting on or not?”

Peridot’s eyes traveled over her bike. It was sleek and shiny and blue – the color of the sky, not the color of her hair. Though, the sky was definitely not the color blue at the moment. It was a deep gray that reminded Peridot she most likely only had minutes until the heavy rain came down.

“Okay,” Peridot decided, “I'll get on.”

She crossed the few feet of distance between them and climbed onto the small rack that sat above the wheel behind Lapis. Then, she hesitated. Her arms floated in midair and she gulped.

“Uh. Am I going to… have to hold onto you?” 

Lapis looked back at her, amused. “That depends. Do you have enough balance to not fall off once I start moving?”

The entire universe knew Peridot did not possess such balance.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach that she forced away. Okay. She was just going to hold onto the girl she had a  _ small  _ crush on and she was not going to be awkward about it at all. 

It was a good thing that Lapis was wearing a backpack that Peridot grabbed a hold of, otherwise her cheeks would be ten times redder than they currently were.

“All set?” Lapis asked.

“Yeah. Now please get me home before one more drop falls on me.”

Lapis’ feet found their way to the pedals and the bike lurched forward. It was slow at first, as Lapis grew accustomed to the extra weight, but then they were headed down the road at a decent speed. Wind blew through Peridot’s hair, undoubtedly making it messier than it already was, but she didn’t care. She actually liked it.

It had been a long time since she had been on a bike, she forgot how enjoyable it felt. Well, enjoyable up until she felt another raindrop hit her right in the face. Then two more hit her arm.

“Agh, Lapis!” Peridot exclaimed. “Lapis, it’s starting to come down!”

There was a laugh. “A little water isn’t going to kill you.”

Just then, Lapis made a sharp turn and Peridot withheld a shriek as she almost fell off the bike. She tightened her grip on Lapis’ backpack and scowled, mumbling to herself, “Water may not kill me, but you probably will.” 

The next few minutes of the bike ride were silent, save for the occasional noises of complaint from Peridot whenever a raindrop would land on her. 

When they reached the neighborhood where Lapis apparently lived, Peridot looked on at the houses with a strange feeling in her stomach that was different to the usual envy she felt when thinking about how small her apartment was in comparison. 

Almost as if she had eyes in the back of her head and could tell Peridot was looking, Lapis took a glance at the houses as well. “Heh. Obnoxious, huh? Sounds about right.”

Peridot’s eyes fell on her. For a moment, she forgot about the feeling of raindrops splattering on her skin and grinned. She recalled the strange feeling in her stomach that suddenly didn’t feel so strange. “Well… obnoxious or not, I actually can’t believe you’ve been practically living right next to me this whole time.”

Lapis looked over her shoulder and saw the smile on Peridot’s face. Quickly, almost as if she was nervous, she looked away and set her eyes back in front of her. “Yeah, I guess we kinda are like neighbors.”

“Neighbors,” Peridot repeated. She looked off to the side in thought. “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to my neighbors. In my apartment building or otherwise.”

“So, I’m the first?”

Peridot shrugged. “Probably.”

“Hm,” Lapis hummed. “How long have you been living there?”

“A few months. How long have you been living in your house?”

“A few years,” Lapis answered. “And, I still don’t know my neighbors.”

“You know me,” Peridot offered. Though, they had only met a few weeks ago and there wasn’t much they actually  _ knew _ about each other.

Lapis looked back at her once more and held her gaze a moment longer than Peridot would’ve expected. “Yeah,” she said with the smallest smile. “I do know you.”

She turned away and a blush crept up Peridot’s face that she hoped wasn’t as painfully visible as it felt. She looked down at her lap and stayed that way until Lapis stopped her bike. They had reached her apartment building.

“Here you go.”

“Right,” Peridot climbed off the bike. She took one step forward, then immediately stopped and turned back to Lapis like she had forgotten something. “Oh, and thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Don’t worry about it.” A coy smile appeared on Lapis’ face. “Now, go ahead and get inside before you get any wetter and melt.”

Peridot rolled her eyes, but laughed nonetheless. She turned to walk away, but not without saying, “You’re insinuating that I’m a witch when  _ clearly _ you’re the one that fits that description best.”

Lapis’ laugh was the last thing she heard before she hurried off to get inside her apartment.

So, sure. If there was one thing Peridot disliked, it was rain. But one day, she was going to have to thank it for allowing her to have her first experience on the back of Lapis’ bike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As stated in the tags, this is probably one of the softest stories I've ever come up with, so if you want more of it, let me know because we always need more soft, cute stories.


	2. If You Want

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First thing, thank you all for the response I got for the first chapter, I appreciate all of you! Second thing, I really didn't mean to take so long to write this chapter, but the past number of weeks have just been really stressful and I had to focus on other things. With that being said, this chapter actually isn't complete and it's pretty short, but that's only because I decided to cut the full thing in half, so I could at least give you guys something while I complete the rest of it. So, think of this as part 1 and part 2 will hopefully get done soon. Happy reading!

Sometimes, Peridot hated being smart. 

Well, that was a lie, she actually loved being smart. She loved getting good grades and learning new information and excelling in every academic field she was placed in. 

What she hated was how, once that feeling of intellectual glory wore off, she was left with pressure. And, Peridot did not have a history of handling pressure well. The most recent example being right then at that very second as she sat hunched over a library desk, trying to work out a current issue. 

It wasn’t the most adequate way to spend her lunch period, especially when her lunch rested at the bottom of her backpack, untouched and forgotten about. But, there was a more pressing matter Peridot had to attend to. 

Unsurprisingly, the universe didn’t appear to think her situation was as dire as she did, because in a record time of barely five minutes, Peridot was ripped away from concentration by a flat, “Hey.”

Peridot’s head snapped in the direction of the voice, unaware if she should be relieved or irritated for the distraction. But then she saw Lapis’ face looking down at her, and any sort of irritation suddenly refused to be felt.

“Lapis.” Peridot’s voice was an octave higher than it should’ve been. She cleared her throat and sat up straight in her chair. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

“I saw you come in here, so I thought maybe I’d come and mess with you.” Lapis leapt up to sit on top of the desk. Peridot instinctively looked around to see if the librarian was near, knowing she would  _ not _ be fond of Lapis’ seating choice. 

Seeing her nowhere, Peridot turned back to Lapis with her lips pursed. “Of course. I should’ve expected no less from you.”

Lapis gave a cheeky grin. “Don’t tell me you’re annoyed. I’m just saving you from spending your whole lunch break alone, surrounded by nothing but literature.”

“You say that as if you  _ don’t _ like books,” Peridot chuckled, thinking of the number of times she had seen Lapis killing time in their homeroom class by reading for her own self-indulgence.

“Darn, you caught me, my secret hobby is revealed,” Lapis deadpanned. Peridot resisted a smile.

Lapis began to swing her legs back and forth and as Peridot took notice of the movement, she then became painfully aware of the shorts Lapis was wearing. And, how little of her skin the fabric seemed to cover. Peridot’s throat involuntarily ran dry. She did not need this right now. She inhaled a slow, deep breath through her nostrils and tried to ignore her heart rate picking up.

“So,” Somehow Peridot’s brain processed the sound of Lapis asking her a question, “what are you doing in here, anyway?”

Peridot blinked. What  _ was _ she doing there? Why was her brain suddenly drawing a blank? And,  _ why _ was she still staring at Lapis’ legs–

“Um,” Peridot squeaked, forcing her eyes to look literally anywhere else, “I wasn’t doing anything. Just… sitting.”

Peridot frowned at herself. Of _course_ she had been doing something. She wasn’t entirely sure why her mouth didn't say so. She wasn’t sure why blurting out a lie was the first thing that came to mind. But, it was too late to take it back now.

Lapis then raised an eyebrow and looked down at her with a  _ something _ in her eyes that made Peridot want to squirm. She didn’t know what it was about that look, but it felt like it held a lot more words than what came out of Lapis’ mouth next.

“So, you’re not busy then?”

See, now, Peridot was a smart person. One who absolutely should not have chosen to continue running with her lie. But, that was exactly what she did. “Nope. Not busy at all.”

Lapis gave a soft hum in response. Her eyes flickered up to the ceiling and she chewed on her bottom lip, not looking back down. Peridot didn’t know what she was thinking or why almost a full minute passed by in silence.

But, when Lapis suddenly blurted out, “Hey, you wanna go somewhere with me,” Peridot almost jumped out of her seat.

She settled herself and asked, “Uh, go where?”

Lapis let her gaze flutter back down to Peridot. “The art room. I like hanging out in there during lunch.”

“Oh. Well, why do you want me to go?” Peridot couldn’t help but ask.

Something passed over Lapis’ face, something so quick, Peridot couldn’t make out what it was. But, it seemed to be enough to make Lapis shy away from Peridot’s questioning eyes. She faced the opposite direction and shrugged.

“I don’t know,” Lapis said in a quiet voice, “You’re sitting here by yourself and you're not busy, I figured I’d be nice and ask you to join me. But, I mean, only if you want.”

Peridot considered the offer. It looked like she had two options. Drop the charade and tell Lapis that she actually was busy and couldn’t go with her, or keep pretending that she wasn’t being buried underneath a mountain of pressure and join her.

And, because today just seemed to morph itself into the day where Peridot did all the things she shouldn’t do, she casted the overbearing thoughts of responsibility aside and made up her mind without even a second thought.

“Sure. I’ll go with you.”

Lapis faced her again with an expression that almost seemed surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Peridot nodded, “I want to.”

The smallest smile formed on Lapis’ lips before she hopped off the desk. She began to walk away, but not without taking one last look back at Peridot and gesturing her head for her to follow. 

Peridot remained still for a moment and, currently alone at the desk, she let out a groan. 

“Not busy? What is  _ wrong _ with you,” she chastised herself. She knew in a few hours, she’d probably regret not spending her free time productively. But, as she glanced back at Lapis, she couldn’t help the crack of a smile that appeared on her face regardless. That girl probably shouldn’t have had the effect on Peridot that she did. But, maybe Peridot was more okay with it than she would allow herself to think.

She grabbed her backpack and ran after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Peridot seems impulsive, then that was 100% inspired by the fact that it's 2 a.m and I made the impulse decision to stay up and post this. Thanks for reading!


End file.
